Although Apple Pay is currently enjoying the limelight, companies all over Britain are working to get their own mobile payment strategies in order. Once such company is Shell, which after months of testing has begun rolling out its new PayPal-powered "Fill Up & Go" service across hundreds of its UK petrol stations. The idea is simple: download the Shell Motorist app, connect it to your PayPal account and scan a giant QR code at the pump -- no more queuing or worrying whether you've brought your wallet.

We knew eBay and PayPal were headed to splitsville this year, and now it's actually happening. The auction site and the payment service separated into two disparate companies today, PayPal is getting its own stock ticker, starts trading on the New York Stock Exchange come Monday and, according to Business Insider that doesn't look so good for eBay. As the site tells it, PayPal's been the reason for "most" of eBay's gains for the past three years, and "nearly all" of it for 2015. eBay revenues have already jumped seven percent thanks to higher demand for PayPal, according to Reuters. Maybe the online auction house can use the $925 million it got from the PayPal sale to figure out a way to become profitable -- crazier things have happened.

Wiring money home (especially as cash) can be an awkward, expensive and time-consuming ordeal -- but it's about to get a whole lot easier. PayPal announced on Wednesday that it is acquiring San Francisco-based digital money transfer startup Xoom (no, not the tablet maker) to make "international remittances simpler, safer and more affordable," according to the company's blog. Xoom transferred more than $7 billion for its 1.3 million customers over the 12 months preceding last April, primarily on mobile devices between family and friends. PayPal (which has up to now focused on business payments) hopes to leverage this platform in its planned expansion into markets like Mexico, India, the Philippines, China and Brazil. The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of the year, assuming it passes muster with regulators and Xoom's investors.

When PayPal updated its user agreement with language suggesting that it had broad powers to make automated calls (aka robocalls) and texts, customers were understandably nervous. Was the company going to spam you until you bought more stuff using its online wallet? Well, you can relax. PayPal is tweaking the agreement once again to make it clear just when it will (and more importantly, won't) send a recorded message your way. The only times the firm will robocall is when it needs to collect debt, warn you about shady activity or tackle fraud cases. You won't deal with marketing spiels unless you give explicit consent, and you can revoke that permission at any point.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleges that PayPal engaged in unfair, abusive and deceptive practices in the marketing and management of its PayPal Credit service, formerly known as Bill Me Later. To rectify the (many) outlined abuses, the CFPB filed a complaint and proposed consent order that directs PayPal to refund $15 million to affected consumers, plus pay a $10 million fine to the CFPB's Civil Penalty Fund. The proposed consent order isn't an official ruling just yet -- a judge with the US District Court for the District of Maryland must approve the order for it to be enforced.

PayPal helped fast-track your online shopping when it rolled out One Touch payments on phones last year, and today it's bringing that simpler system to the web. As with mobile apps, you shouldn't have to sign in more than once to use your PayPal balance for purchases on any device with a browser -- it'll remember your details, so you only need to acknowledge that you're draining your account. You should see One Touch today at numerous web-based shops that already take PayPal, and it should reach other countries in the months ahead.

PayPal has has agreed to pay the US Department of the Treasury $7.7 million, after the financial giant processed transactions for a number of companies and individuals on the US sanctions list. A total of 486 violations of US regulations had apparently been committed by PayPal "for several years" after repeated failures in the firm's screening process, a reports explains. While the severity of each instance will vary, the Treasury highlighted a number that relate to Turkish national Kursud Zafer Cire -- an individual on the list after suspected involvement in the movement of weapons of mass destruction. The Treasury's report states that Risk Operations Agents at PayPal manually overrode at least four alerts flagging Cire as blacklisted -- resulting in transactions totalling over $7,000. Since 2013, PayPal has introduced a "long term solution" that checks for violations in real time. An investment we imagine that's a little more cost effective, than predicting future malware.

It's always good news when a service that processes a lot of cash improves its security measures. PayPal, for instance, has just established a security center in Israel by acquiring a local company called CyActive. The company already has a Fraud and Risk Detection Center in Tel Aviv, but CyActive is a totally different beast: it "specializes in technology that can predict how malware will develop." It's sort of like Minority Report's PreCrime, except it uses predictive analytics instead of human precogs to foresee new cybersecurity threats. The startup's employees will now be in charge of implementing technology that will protect the payment platform from future cyberattacks.

PayPal is no stranger to mobile payment solutions, but at Mobile World Congress, the company is making a useful upgrade to its Here card reader. In addition to being able to handle payments from those chip-and-PIN credit/debit cards, the new version of PayPal's transaction tech will also support NFC. This means that not only will the latest version of Here wrangle touchless payments from the aforementioned cards, but it'll also allow retailers to accept funds from mobile devices. It's said to work just like terminals in retail stores, except this add-on connects with a separate mobile device to power the whole thing. That's good news for the PayPal faithful as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay all leverage NFC to transfer funds. There's no word on pricing just yet, but the new version of Here will hit the UK and Australia this summer, with a US debut slated for later this year.

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Those of us in the know are patiently waiting for QR code technology to take off, as it inevitably will, but Shell and PayPal aren't willing to stand by and end up falling behind the curve. Pouncing on the flourishing standard, the two have shaken hands on a deal that'll soon let patrons at Shell petrol stations pay for fuel using only their phones, PayPal details, and some well-placed QR codes. Having successfully trialed the mobile payment method way back in 2013, it's ready to roll out to the "vast majority" of Shell garages in April, though will initially be reserved for members of Shell's Drivers' Club programme before randoms can get involved later this year. "Using a debit or credit card to pay at the pump simply isn't convenient enough," a fictional spokesperson commented, adding that booting up the Android/iOS Shell Motorist or Paypal apps, and pairing with a pump via a QR code so your PayPal credentials can be charged is the stuff futuristic nightmares dreams are made of. A receipt of the transaction will also be sent to your phone when you're done, confirming you've successfully completed the process and not screeched off with a full, free tank.

Remember Softcard (formerly Isis, but renamed for obvious reasons)? It's a joint venture that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile started in 2010 to get into mobile payments without ceding the market to Google Wallet and Apple Pay. That hasn't quite worked out, since few want to put a $70 case on their iPhone to use mobile payments, and a caseless option for the iPhone 6 has yet to arrive. Tonight Techcrunchfirst reported rumors that it's in talks for a sale to Google, while Paypal and Microsoft are apparently interested too. The initial report puts its pricetag at under $100 million, less than the hundreds of millions the mobile carriers invested in it. Google and Softcard have both declined to comment on the rumor, but it seems more a matter of when and who will pick up the pieces, not if.

Apple already provides a variety of ways to pay for Macs and iPhones, but there's certainly nothing wrong with adding another alternative. Perhaps that's why the company has decided to add PayPal to its online store in the US and the UK. While you'll now be able to charge the cost of a new iPad to one of your connected PayPal accounts, Apple is also promoting interest-free instalments via PayPal Direct. For orders over $250/£99, the company will let you split payments into equal monthly payments, letting you get your gear now and gradually pay it off by next Christmas.

Hate typing passwords? You might not have to enter them for much longer. The FIDO Alliance (backed by Google, Microsoft, PayPal and Samsung, among others) has just published the completed versions of its password-free standards for both regular and two-factor authentication. Apps and websites using the technology can now rely on a number of easier and typically more secure ways to sign you in, such as fingerprint readers and USB dongles, without having to worry about the exact device you're using. There are already some hardware and software solutions that play nicely with FIDO, but the existence of firm specs should significantly boost your choices in 2015.

Starting today, you will have access to PayPal right from your Pebble. The payments company announced earlier that there's now a compatible application for the smartwatch, which is available free of charge from Pebble's app store. Once installed, it can be used to make payments at any PayPal-friendly location around you, including restaurants and other local brick-and-mortar businesses. There's also support for notifications, allowing you to use the Pebble wearable to easily, and at a glance, keep up with your account. A few months ago, PayPal became one of the first apps to come to Android Wear, so the company has definitely made sure it is well covered in this space.

Wish you didn't have to pay for online orders before they showed up? You won't have to, if you've loaded up a PayPal account. In the wake of a trial run, the company has formally rolled out Pay After Delivery, a service that gives you up to 14 days after your order to cough up the necessary funds. PayPal gives retailers money right away -- it's just waiting for you to pay the difference. Suffice it to say that this will come in handy if you have a high-priority order (say, a holiday gift) that can't wait until you have the necessary funds.

Despite spending most of 2014 arguing the opposite, eBay has today decided it will divide its popular payment and auction properties in two. Next year, the company will split PayPal away from its embattled auction site, and as a result of the restructuring eBay's current CEO and CFO will step down from their roles, although both will take board positions. Dan Schulman, currently an executive at American Express, will become CEO of the new PayPal in 2015.

PayPal has been coy about embracing virtual currencies so far, but it just took a big step toward welcoming them with open arms. As of today, the company's deals with processing firms BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin let you pay with Bitcoin at North American online stores that both use PayPal's Payments Hub and accept digital cash. This doesn't mean your PayPal wallet can suddenly hold Bitcoin; the service says it's only moving "gradually" toward full support, and wants to see how things shake out. However, it should now be easier for many outlets (primarily smaller ones) to accept Bitcoin. Don't be shocked if some of your favorite internet shops flick the switch and give you an alternative to paying with old-school money.

Did you hear? iOS 8 is ripe for the picking, and lucky for you, we've already taken it for a test drive. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours, including our iPhone 6 and 6 Plus review, everything you need to know about virtual payments, and more!

Remember that One Touch mobile payment solution PayPal announced last month? It's ready -- Braintree CEO Bill Ready announced at Disrupt that customers with the PayPal app will have access to mobile payments starting today. The mobile payment platform is the first fruit Braintree has borne since PayPal acquired it last year, but it isn't the last: Ready says his company is laying the foundation for PayPal Bitcoin payments, too.

It's a pretty common thing to see in an online store: pay with PayPal -- but what about on mobile devices? Well, the eBay-owned company is working on that. The company just announced PayPal One Touch, a new system that (as the name implies) hopes to make paying of items in mobile apps a one-touch affair. The feature isn't an app itself, but rather a service that can be embedded in other apps. Users will log into their PayPal account one time, and subsequently be able to pay for products in supported apps with a single click.

If Joe's Diner gives you a free slider every ten meals, you may no longer need to schlep around a punch card if you use PayPal. It's latest iOS app now works with loyalty cards from select retailers just by scanning a barcode on your physical card. That'll save it into your PayPal wallet in a similar way to Apple's Passbook and Microsoft's Wallet, letting you score discounts or other deals. The company also squashed a few bugs and killed the old-school check-scanning feature. So far, the update applies only to iOS devices, but we'd imagine it'll hit Android soon as well.

With plenty of third-party sellers populating its online store, Amazon is well accustomed to playing the middleman for processing transactions. Now the e-tailer's taking that middleman role one step further; it will now manage monthly subscription payments for companies such as wireless service provider Ting. It's just the latest move in Amazon's ongoing effort to overtake PayPal.

Some Australian Apple device owners today woke up not to the sound of their alarm, but the jingle of a "ransom" notification instead. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a hacker (or a group of hackers) going by the name "Oleg Pliss" systematically froze iPhone, iPad and Mac users out of their own devices, holding them hostage until payments of between $50 and $100 were received. Threads on Apple's official support forums detail how the attacker (or attackers) used Apple's own Find My iPhone feature to remotely lock devices and send messages requiring payment via PayPal. Fortunately, those who had set passcodes were able to regain access, because you can't add or change a lock on a device that already has one in place, but those without the security measure weren't so lucky.

eBay has just posted a strange message up on the community homepage and press page of its daughter company, PayPal. The headline is a bit worrying, implying that eBay has possibly had some kind of security or maintenance problem, leading it to request all users to change their passwords. On the other hand, the body of the post (shown after the break) is empty except for the words "placeholder text," and nothing has yet been published on eBay's own site. We've contacted eBay's press office to find out what (if anything) is going down, but in the meantime it might be worth changing those passwords, just in case.

Update: We haven't heard anything back, but PayPal's website people seem to be in the process of removing the password message. It's gone from the community page and is now only visible on the press site, so it's looking increasingly likely that it was posted in error.

Update #2: Even if this morning's post was published early by accident, the underlying issue is genuine. eBay has just released an official statement confirming that it has been the victim of a hacker attack that "compromised a database containing encrypted passwords and other non-financial data." It does indeed recommend changing your password.

Well, here's a surprise: Mountain View now accepts PayPal payments for apps, games, books and other digital goods on Google Play. If you're not exactly fond of paying through credit cards cards or carriers, you can activate the option by clicking Add Paypal and typing in your log-in details. The option has a huge limitation, though: you can't exactly use it to buy devices and accessories. So, if you want to buy a new Android phone or a Nest thermostat, you need to bust out that plastic. That said, Play has also expanded carrier billing and gift card availability to more countries, and anyone waiting for either may want to check Google Support for the full lists.